Sigma Tau Delta saves Christmas from the Grinch

Sigma Tau Delta, Baylor’s chapter of the International English Honors Society, hosted Christmas with the Grinch from 12 to 4 p.m. in the Carroll Science Building Tuesday for students to relax and enjoy holiday festivities to prevent the Christmas ‘grinches’ caused by finals stress.

Students sipped hot chocolate or hot apple cider, munched on an assortment of cookies and made handmade ornaments while Sigma Tau Delta Students read from, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” by Dr. Seuss aloud.

Canyon senior Gordon McCormack, the treasurer of Sigma Tau Delta, performed a dramatic reading of the children’s book that attracted students to the event while they were walking by between their classes.

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!” the book reads.

Austin senior Lexi Rima, vice-president of Sigma Tau Delta, explained that this iconic line from the Christmas novel applied to the events intentions.

“[The book shows that Christmas is] about more than just the gifts — it’s about fun and the community. That’s what we were aiming for with this [event],” Rima said.

Some of the decorations provided for ornament decorating included quotes from the book and other Christmas themed quotes.

“We compiled Christmas related texts from many different works. So there is a quote in there from Dumbledore from Harry Potter, there’s Charles Dickens, Washington Irving and a lot of Christmas poetry as well,” Rima said.

Lubbock senior Caitlyn Rush, public relations officer of Sigma Tau Delta, explained that one of her favorite quotes was from her favorite Jane Austen novel, Emma.

“There’s just a lot of fun Christmas quotes. Even if the book isn’t a Christmas book, it still finds its way in there,” Rush said.

Sigma Tau Delta chose “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” as the theme to tie their festive and fun event to literature.

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas is very nostalgic, very cute and very simple to read,” Rima said.

Rima said last year’s event was a bit too formal, so they wanted a change of pace for this year’s.

“We focused on Washington Irving, who is a prolific writer for Christmas stories, but it was a little too stuffy and we wanted to make this [event] more fun,” Rima said.

Rima said as students are attending their last classes of the semester with finals rapidly approaching, the Grinch event gave students and staff a place to relax while celebrating the upcoming holiday.

“It’s a come and go event so people can just drop in for five minutes, grab a cookie and maybe add a little Christmas flare [to their] day,” Rima said.

The event also included fliers and information on applying to Sigma Tau Delta, so that students passing by would get to know the club hosting the event.

“You don’t have to be a member to participate. People who are and aren’t English majors and anybody in the university that cares about literature is always welcome,” Rush said.